KALAMAZOO, MI -- Organized labor, joined by a Kalamazoo County commissioner, staged a protest Friday on the sidewalk of the Kalamazoo County administration building, saying they were standing up for local workers.

About a dozen laborers protested a parking garage repair project the county awarded to Mark 1 Restoration Services of Detroit.

The protesters said the contract should have been awarded to RAM Construction Services, a Detroit-based construction company that also has an office in Grand Rapids. Mark 1 bid $42,200 for the project and RAM bid $42,486, according to county records.

"We think that if tax dollars are being spent in our community, we should have local people do the work," said Jonathan Byrd, legislative director with the Lansing-based Michigan Laborers' District Council.

Byrd said RAM could have hired from a pool of more than 100 Kalamazoo-area laborers.

Kalamazoo County Commissioner John Taylor, D-Kalamazoo, said he was on the picket line because he was "supporting our local workforce, supporting our local labor."

Taylor said the county board had approved a capital improvement plan, but individual purchase orders are handled by the administration and don't require board approval.

"That's something I'm changing, I'm going to change," Taylor said.

Kalamazoo County Administrator Peter Battani said the county takes into consideration local preference, but that neither company that bid has Kalamazoo County employees. He said Mark 1 specializes in parking ramp repairs.

Battani said in the past local companies have done the repairs, but they did not bid this year. He said the real issue of the protest is that RAM is a union company and Mark 1 is not.Battani said the board's approval of the capital improvement plan gives administration authority to award purchase orders of up to $100,000.

Emily Monacelli is a local government reporter for MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact her at emonacel@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.